The Soldier with a Heart
by SandDragon91
Summary: During the massacre of the Jedi Temple, a soldier of the 501st is having second thoughts.


I don't know why I wrote this, but I got on Youtube and found an interesting video that helped push in the right direction. The fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan helped me, the music spuring me to write and write. And this is what I came out with. A soldier, flawed during the cloning process is a part of Operation Knightfall, the malicious destruction of the Jedi Temple by the 501st. You see the battle from his eyes...until it scares him away entirely. Please, enjoy and review. And tell me in your reviews if you want a continuation of a story for this soldier...I've been thinking of writing more for him. Well, enjoy.

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_The Soldier with a Heart_

_**SandDragon91**_

Order 66 had been received.

It was simple.

Eliminate all Jedi. Wipe them out, remove them from existence. A death warrant for any and all that carried a lightsaber. A soldier such as myself should not be bothered by such an order. Since my creation on the rainy world of Kamino, I knew that this was what I would have to do one day.

Still…I could not help but have second thoughts.

It was dead silent in the transport; no one in my unit spoke a word. Were the other's having last minute traitorous thoughts like me? If they did, they never voiced them aloud, never gave a hint of it. Neither did I. We knew what had to be done.

The transport arrived on Coruscant in the dead of night. We had been shipped back in secret, in the waning hours of the Clone Wars. Chancellor Palpatine had given us, the 501st, the honors of raiding the Jedi Temple and killing all who lay within its walls.

If you can call such a thing an honor. We were being sent to Coruscant in secret, to kill the Jedi who believed us to be their allies. It was…dirty to me. I do not know why I thought this, but…I knew I had no choice. The transport landed a moment later, and we began to slowly step out into the cool air of a Coruscanti night, the stars twinkling above us. Hurrying away from the transport, we made our way to the rendezvous point to meet with our new leader for this mission.

Our commander was to be former Jedi, Darth Vader. Heavily cloaked, he stood, eyes obscured from view, waiting for us outside of the temple, lightsaber inactivated in his hand. He looked up at us. Strange eyes studied us, a peculiar glow in them now, flashing a discomforting yellow. Shaking myself from my reverie, I followed the others as they immediately and quietly, got into formation behind him, prepared to march inside and do what we had been ordered to.

We waited.

And then, without a word, Lord Vader turned and strode inside, lightsaber drawn, blue light emanating from it.

Obediently and wordlessly, we marched in after him, our rifles at the ready. The Jedi who stood inside hurried to Lord Vader, confusion in their eyes, questions on their lips. The urge to scream at them to run was overwhelming, and I swore that I saw one of them look at me…_and his eyes told me he knew_. I swallowed hard, turning away from him, looking at Vader, awaiting a direct order from him.

Lord Vader turned, looked at us with icy, unfeeling eyes, before giving a nod in our direction.

Our blasters raised, we fired into the Jedi who had approached us, killing a few, wounding others, while some had drawn their lightsabers and blocked with reflexes that astounded me. Many were torn asunder in the first barrage of our blasters, and those that weren't charged at us now, ferocity alight in their eyes.

I raised my rifle, poised to kill, but…I hesitated.

Why did I feel this way? I had never cared to kill before. Why did this make any difference, killing these Jedi? Was it because, perhaps, while on the battlefield, fighting side by side with them, I had come to respect them and their ways?

Or was something merely wrong with me? None of the others were affected this way.

Blaster bolts were being fired from every conceivable direction, and the hum of the Jedi's lightsabers filled the air. Explosions were all around me, and the sound of lightsaber's tearing through armor, skin, and bone resounded in my ears.

Even with the battle raging around me, I saw a Jedi, a padawan judging by his stature, foolishly turn his eyes onto me, possibly sensing my hesitation as I stood there dumbly while the fighting went on around me..

He came at me, lightsaber raised, twirling it at me dangerously.

I reacted before I knew it; pulling the trigger and watching the blaster bolt tear into his unprotected chest. He fell in midair like a stone, his eyes widening in shock, blood sputtering from his lips. Landing on his knees, he stared at me, so many conflicting emotions in his eyes, before they went dark finally, and he fell lifeless to the floor.

Shocked, I merely stood there, staring at the body, not really seeing it. A child…I had just killed a child.

And suddenly, Lord Vader shot past me, killing all who came in his path, Jedi falling like flies to his lightsaber, a harbinger of death, wielding his weapon flawlessly as he fought opponent after opponent.

Many fought, many surrendered. All fell.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I quickly sighted another Jedi, this one a female, about to throw her lightsaber at Lord Vader. He was so caught up in the fighting that he did not appear to see her. I was shaking, something foreign to me, but I raised my rifle once more and fired a bolt at her, missing. Her eyes fell on me, and she was about to attack me instead, but Lord Vader approached her before she could retaliate against me. She leapt at him then, her double bladed lightsaber twirling, green meeting blue in a fierce clash.

Her blade met his and they fought intensely, blade meeting blade, their sabers crackling each time they came into contact. And I watched as Lord Vader slowly wore her down, before dealing the finishing blow, resulting in a swift thrust through her chest. Her eyes never left her opponent, and she appeared to try to say something before she fell dead.

Withdrawing his lightsaber from her now cold flesh, he darted away from the corpse of his former adversary, and proceeded to the lift that lay on the other side of the room which the female Jedi had been desperately trying to protect. I knew where he was going…he was going to the Council Chambers, where we had been told that the youngling Jedi would hide during a crisis such as this.

Lord Vader pressed a button, and the lift began to rise, disappearing from sight a moment later, and I knew that the children who lay above were doomed. Just the thought of Lord Vader raising his lightsaber against such young innocents made me feel sickened.

And still the chaos continued to erupt around me. I heard a soldier yell at me to look out, and I turned just in time to see a Jedi charging at me. My reflexes saved me in the end as I rolled out of the way, firing also out of reflex, watching as my would-be attacker fell, then rose to his feet, turning to me, and starting toward me. His eyes were blank, and his saber hung loosely in hand, blood pouring from the wound in his chest. I sat there in my kneeling position, staring at him in shock as he continued to lumber toward me.

Another soldier who saw my plight fired another bolt, the second wound causing him to fall this time. He lay there, his eyes growing dark, before he finally went still. I sat there, gaping at the body, before rising to my feet and hurrying behind a pillar, my breathing labored.

Everything felt so strange, I felt nauseated, ill, and the smell of blood was infiltrating my senses, permeating everything. My throat felt constricted, tight, and I did not want to be here, doing this, anything of it. It repulsed me, horrified me.

Orders…I had to obey them! This was the Emperor's direct order! All the Jedi were to die! But…this was wrong! Too wrong, even for me, a battle hardened soldier! I had survived Geonosis, Felucia, and Kashyyk…but this…was too much! I…I couldn't do it.

And I ran.

My feet carried me away from the battle, away from the temple, away from the screams the Jedi being massacred and the cries of dying and frightened children. I heard the yells of my unit, my superiors ordering me back into battle, but I ignored them all.

A few bolts flew my way, but they missed.

It wasn't long before I was alone. Breathing hard, I leaned up against the wall, clutching my rifle tightly for dear life, desperately just wanting to curl up and go to sleep, never to wake up. I wished this was all a nightmare, and that I would wake up back on Kamino, that the whole war would have been a dream. And then I would tell my comrades and they would laugh at me and tell me to go to the simulator to left off some steam.

I struggled to get a hold of myself. This was my duty…I had been ordered to do this by Emperor and it was my duty to follow his orders without question. And yet here I stood, in direct defiance of his wishes, no longer involved in the battle that was still being waged in his name.

And as I stood there, I swore that I heard something within the depths of my consciousness. A dark voice suddenly pierced my mind, icy, and enraged. I knew I was no longer alone…and I was going to die.

_//What do you think you are doing, little clone?//_

I turned to see Lord Vader standing there, lightsaber still in hand, glaring at me dangerously, his eyes filled with a hatred that chilled me to the very bone.

Slowly, I pushed myself off the wall and turned to face him, all fear seeming to drift away. I gave him no reply, and he spoke aloud this time, so much venom dripping from his voice that I thought I probably should be afraid, but my fear seemed to have died away, leaving nothing behind.

"Get back to battle…and I might spare your pathetic life." said Lord Vader coldly, motioning back to the temple with his activated saber.

I stared at him, still not giving him reply. My silence seemed to anger him even more than he already was, if that was even possible, and he approached me steadily, raising his lightsaber slowly.

"Who do you think you are…disobeying me, Darth Vader, apprentice to the Emperor?" snarled Lord Vader, pointing his saber at me. "And I _demand_ an answer…_now_."

I felt a harsh crushing pressure on my mind, bending it, breaking it nearly, and I knew he was using the Force to torture me. I wanted to scream in pain, but I decided, that if I was going to die, I was going to be honest with myself for the first…and last…time of my life.

"…I am a soldier," I managed, gasping in pain.

Vader watched me with unfeeling eyes, and yet he was cold and attentive, a cruel parody of caring about what I had to say. Personally, I would have preferred indifference.

"…with a heart." I finished, dropping my rifle, knowing I would no longer need it.

The pain ebbed away, leaving me reeling, and I fell to my knees. Breathing raggedly, I looked up, my eyes on Vader, awaiting death.

"Well, 'soldier with a heart'…" said Vader blankly. "There is no room in the Empire for the weak such as you."

I never took my eyes off of him as he raised his saber high and slashed downward, a flash of blue crossing my vision, and quick pain rushing through my body, before all I knew was darkness.


End file.
